While the Naruto franchise has handed off the ninja baton to the next generation thanks to Boruto: Two Blue Vortex, the anime series has been missing in action for years. Following the fight against Code, Boruto and the Hidden Leaf Village have been absent from the screen, with Studio Pierrot focusing more on Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War. While anime fans wait to learn when we can expect Masashi Kishimoto’s anime adaptation to return, there appears to be a light at the end of the tunnel. This summer, the shonen series is planning a major event that not only confirms some big manga details but also has other surprises in store.
On June 4th, Weekly Shonen Jump is prepared to celebrate the tenth anniversary of Boruto, which kicked off with Boruto: Naruto Next Generations and has continued with its sequel series, Boruto: Two Blue Vortex. The tenth anniversary celebration has confirmed that it will include an all-color edition of Boruto: Two Blue Vortex’s first volume, the eighth volume of the shonen manga, a six-hundred-page guidebook that will traverse the totality of the Naruto franchise, and a video retrospective of Boruto: Naruto Next Generations. The celebration is also planning to reveal several new announcements, with many fans surely hoping that the return of the anime adaptation will be one of them.
The last time the Naruto franchise released a new episode of its anime was in 2023, with Boruto: Naruto Next Generations seeing the son of the Seventh Hokage and Kawaki teaming up to take on the heir apparent to Jigen. While the heroes did defeat Code, the Kara Organization is still rallying in the background, with Boruto: Two Blue Vortex introducing far more threats to the ninja world. As of the writing of this article, it has yet to be confirmed whether Naruto Next Generations will release new episodes or if the series will return under the Two Blue Vortex title, though we might learn more this June.
Originally, Studio Pierrot confirmed that it would be releasing four new episodes to take anime fans back to the earlier days of Konoha. The installments were set to arrive in September of 2023, following the pause in Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, and would have followed Naruto and the original Team 7 in a brand new adventure. Unfortunately, Pierrot reported that animation issues delayed the original episodes, and little has been revealed when this mini-series will be released.
Pierrot has been on the record that it has taken a more “seasonal approach” to its anime productions, using Demon Slayer as an example. The production house is planning to finish Bleach’s Thousand Year Blood War this year, while also set to start Black Clover’s long-awaited return. With the Boruto series having plenty of stories to adapt for a relatively long anime run, fingers crossed that the sequel’s tenth anniversary celebration confirms the anime adaptation’s comeback.
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